Four elected to High Council of Justice amid protests
The Georgian High Council of Justice has four new members despite the calls of foreign ambassadors to pause the process. Photo: on.ge.
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Four individuals have been elected to Georgia’s High Council of Justice earlier today amid a rally of civic activists and the calls of the US and the EU ambassadors to pause the process.
Earlier this week the ambassadors and opposition MPs urged for the postponement of the election of High Council of Justice members and judges of the Supreme Court before the implementation of judicial reforms in line with the EU-mediated agreement signed by the majority of Georgian political parties back in April 2021.
The opposition stated that the High Council of Justice, which selects and appoints judges in the country, is ‘run by a clan of judges’ and ‘is biased.’
EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell and US Ambassador Kelly Degnan have supported the moratorium on election the members of HCJ and judges of the country's Supreme Court. Photo: EU in Georgia press office.
The High Council of Justice, which is composed of 15 members, also selects judges for the country’s Supreme Court who are later voted on in parliament.
The previous selection of the Supreme Court judges caused a large turmoil and protests in the country.
The deputy head of Georgia’s Supreme Court Giorgi Mikautadze stated earlier today that the moratorium on the election of new members of the High Council of Justice would have ‘caused the collapse’ of the country’s court system.
He said that currently the High Council of Justice lacks one member, while the terms of nine other members are expiring in the coming months.
We have always approved the position of the country’s international partners for reforms. However, the reforms should not take place at the expense of the collapse of the Georgian justice system,” Mikautadze said.
The new judge members of the High Council of Justice are Levan Mikaberidze, Temur Gogokhia, Badri Shonia and Gela Abuseridze.
EU and US ambassadors to Georgia say that the election of judges to Georgia’s Supreme Court and members of the High Council of Justice should take place only after major justice reforms have been carried out in line with the recent EU-mediated agreement signed by the majority of Georgian political parties back in April 2021.
Opposition MPs from Lelo, Strategy Agmashenebli, Khatuna Samnidze from Republican Party, independent MP David Bakradzea and MP Zurab Japaridze from Girchi-More Freedom have demanded the postponement of elections for four new members of Georgia’s High Council of Justice.
The Lelo opposition party has submitted a bill requesting the state legislature declare a moratorium on the election of new judges for the country’s Supreme Court and new members in the High Council of Justice before the implementation of the EU-mediated agreement.
The Georgian parliament has approved 14 of total 19 candidates for lifelong judges of the Georgian Supreme Court amid protests of the opposition and civic groups. Prosecutor General Shalva Tadumadze, his deputy Mamuka Vasadze and Secretary of Georgia’s High Council of Justice Giorgi Mikautadze are among those approved.
Deputy head of EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) Luke Pierre Devin has disapproved of the recent election of four new members in the Georgian High Council of Justice, the body which selects and appoints judges in the country.
The Georgian High Council of Justice (HCJ), an independent body which selects and appoints judges around the country, has selected nine candidates for judge in the Supreme Court despite the calls of foreign diplomats and the opposition to pause the process.
The US Embassy to Georgia has posted the highlighted text of the April 19 EU-mediated agreement between Georgian political parties to counter the position of the ruling Georgian Dream party that the parliament should continue the election of new judges in the Georgian Supreme Court.
The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court by the Georgian High Council of Justice (HCJ) must be stopped temporarily until fundamental reforms are implemented in the judiciary and a wide discussion of the issue is held, US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said earlier today at a conference of the International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED) on Digital Election Campaign and Information Manipulations in Georgia.
The EU representation to Georgia has refused to attend the hearings of candidates for Georgian Supreme Court judge in the state legislature, as the European Union has been calling on Georgia for several months to carry out a fundamental judiciary reform first.
Four MPs in the United National Movement parliamentary faction - the largest opposition in Georgia’s lawmaking body - on Wednesday left the group following their vote for three new, non-judge members in the country’s High Council of Justice enabled the ruling party-backed candidates to receive necessary support in the session.
Archil Talakvadze, the Georgian Parliament's Vice Speaker, on Wednesday said the ruling Georgian Dream party would “explain” to the country’s European partners the domestic opposition’s “sabotage” of prospects of Georgia fulfilling conditions for receiving the European Union membership candidate status.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on Monday published its opinion on the amendments in the Georgian Law on Common Courts, adopted in June and September in efforts to meet conditions for receiving the European Union membership candidate status, noting while it welcomed the changes, its “important previous recommendations” had not been addressed and urged the domestic authorities to “pursue the reform strategy without unjustified delay”.